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Undergraduate Admission

Selective Admission Programs

Music/Music Education Applicants

Admission to the Music and Music Education majors is competitive. Any student wishing to be considered for admission to these majors must submit additional application documents as well as audition for the Music Department faculty. These music documents need to be submitted in addition to the required documents to be considered for admission to the university.

Applicants are required to submit the Music Department Audition Application, one Music Teacher Recommendation and to attend a Music Audition. When filling out the Music Department Audition Application, applicants will select a Music Audition date and will enter their Music Teacher Recommenders contact information (the Music Teacher recommendation form will be emailed directly to the applicant’s chosen recommender).

To start the process, submit your application to Xavier through the Common Application. Once your application has been received by Xavier, you will be sent log-in information to complete the process. Learn more about the Music Department Audition.

Students applying for this program should apply Early Action.

Nursing Applicants

This information applies to Fall 2025 BSN applicants only.

Admission to the College of Nursing is competitive. Applicants who fully meet or exceed the admission criteria listed below may be admitted directly to Nursing. All other applicants will be admitted first to Xavier as Exploratory majors, and will receive a decision regarding their admission to the Nursing major after March 1.

Freshmen enrolled in the Xavier nursing program must complete the following prerequisite courses with a cumulative grade point average of 2.75 or higher and a grade of “C” or higher: BIO140, 141, 142, 143, and NUR130 in order to progress and begin sophomore-level nursing courses.

In addition to the progression policy above, students in the nursing major must earn grades of 'C' or higher for nursing, science, mathematics, and social science courses and must thereafter maintain a cumulative 2.70 grade point average to remain in the program.

Please note that no separate Nursing application is needed.

Strong candidates for admission to the College of Nursing will meet and/or exceed the criteria below. Please note that meeting the following criteria will make a student a preferred candidate:

  • GPA: 3.0 or higher (on a weighted 4.0 scale)
  • Average 3.0 GPA in science coursework with no grade lower than a C
  • Highschool Chemistry and Biology highly preferred
  • Upper level coursework encouraged

In addition to academics, Xavier will consider all facets of a student's application for admission to the University when considering candidates for the College of Nursing. A student's essays, recommendation(s), resume, activities and awards, demonstrated interest in both Xavier and a career in Nursing, as well as other factors will be considered. Should you have additional questions about the admission process, please contact your admission counselor.

All tuition and housing deposits for students admitted to the College of Nursing are non-refundable.

Students wishing to have their major changed to nursing after being admitted to another major at Xavier must be considered for admission separately to the program and will be admitted to the program on a space available basis.

Students who have been dismissed from another nursing education program are not eligible for admission to the BSN program.

Technical Standards

Xavier University College of Nursing is committed to diversity and to attracting and educating students who will make the population of healthcare professionals’ representative of the national population. We provide confidential and specialized disability support and are committed to excellence in accessibility; we encourage students with disabilities to disclose and seek accommodations. 

The technical standards delineated below must be met with or without accommodation.

Students who, after review of the technical standards, determine that they require an accommodation to fully engage in the program, should contact the Xavier University Accessibility and Disability Resources s to confidentially discuss their accommodation needs. Given the clinical nature of the program, additional time may be needed to implement accommodations. Accommodations are never retroactive; therefore, timely requests are essential and encouraged.

Technical (Non-academic) Standards

  • Acquire Information: Students must be able to obtain information from demonstrations and experiments in the basic sciences. Students must be able to assess a patient and evaluate findings accurately. These skills require the use of vision, hearing, and touch or the functional equivalent.
  • Communication: Students should be able to communicate with patients in order to elicit information, to detect changes in mood and activity, and to establish a therapeutic relationship. Students should be able to communicate via English effectively and sensitively with patients and all members of the healthcare team both in person and in writing.
  • Motor: Students should, after a reasonable period of time, possess the capacity to perform a physical assessment and perform nursing skills. Students should be able to execute some motor movements required to provide general care to patients and provide or direct the provision of emergency treatment of patients. Such actions require some coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements balance and equilibrium.
  • Intellectual, conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities: Students should be able to assimilate detailed and complex information presented in both didactic and clinical coursework, and engage in problem-solving. Candidates are expected to possess the ability to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, and transmit information. In addition, students should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures and to adapt to different learning environments and modalities.
  • Behavioral and social abilities: Students should possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibility’s attendant to the care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients, fellow students, faculty, and staff. Students should be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively under stress. They should be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility, and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, professionalism, interest, and motivation are all personal qualities that are expected during the education processes.
  • Ethics and professionalism: Students should maintain and display ethical and moral behaviors commensurate with the role of a nurse in all interactions with patients, faculty, staff, students, and the public. The student is expected to understand the legal and ethical aspects of the practice of Nursing and function within the law and ethical standards of the nursing profession.

Students applying for this program should apply Early Action.

Accelerated BSN

Whether you've always wanted to be a nurse or recently felt called to become an RN, our second-degree Accelerated BSN program in Cincinnati, Columbus, or Cleveland can connect you with that path in 16 months.

Occupational Therapy Direct Admit Pathway

Occupational Therapy at Xavier is a Doctoral level degree (Pending Approval). However, up to 50% of the Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) student spaces will be held for exceptional incoming Xavier University first-year undergraduate students who:

  1. Are in the upper academic tier as indicated by their high school cumulative GPA and ACT/SAT scores and
  2. Meet OTD admission criteria upon application to the OTD program

In order to be considered for the Direct Admit Pathway, students must:

  1. Submit Xavier University application by February 1
  2. Select 'pre-occupational therapy' as their pre-professional track on the Xavier University admission application (any major is acceptable)
  3.  Make their commitment by the May 15 deadline
  4. Earn a cumulative high school GPA of 3.75 or higher (typically students offered the Direct Admit Pathway have a 3.75 GPA or higher)
  5. Obtain a minimum SAT score of 1310 or ACT score of 28 (typically students offered the Direct Admit Pathway have these minimum scores)

Students who apply will know of their Direct Admit Pathway acceptance by March 1. Direct Admit Pathway students will be required to submit an application to the OTD Program. Acceptance to the OTD Program is assured for students who meet all OTD admission criteria. 

Theatre/Theatre Education Applicants

Admission to the Theatre and Theatre Education majors is competitive. Any student wishing to be considered for admission to these majors must audition for the Department faculty. Students applying to Theatre/Theatre Education will receive two admission decisions. The first will notify the student (before their audition) if they are admitted to Xavier as an undecided student. The second will notify the student (after their audition) if they have been admitted to Xavier as a Theatre/Theatre Education major. Please contact Assistant Professor, Stephen Skiles, to reserve an audition by email at skiless1@xavier.edu or by phone at 513-745-3578.

Students applying for this program should apply Early Action.

Philosophy, Politics, and The Public

Philosophy, Politics, and The Public (PPP) is an honors program with selective admission. Students interested in this major should indicate so on their application for admission. Applicants will receive two decisions. First, applicants will receive an initial offer of admission to Xavier with an Exploratory major. After initial Xavier admission, students will be directed to complete and submit an additional program-specific essay of approximately 750 words. Applicants will then receive a second admission decision, specifically for the PPP program.

PPP Essay Prompt:

Identify an issue that you believe to be one of public concern. What makes it an issue of public concern? Given his account of the public in this passage, would Dewey agree that it is an issue of public concern? If so, why? If not, what is Dewey missing in his understanding of the public? More about the PPP program.

Students applying for this program should apply Early Action.

Data Science Honors Bachelor of Science

Data scientists are trained to combine their skills in analytics, computer science, mathematics, and statistics to transform sizable and convoluted data into understandable results that can be used to make intelligent decisions. Xavier’s interdisciplinary Data Science Honors Program develops technical skills, ethics, and a series of projects that challenge students to apply their knowledge to serve the community and address issues in society.

Students applying for this program should apply Early Action.

More about the Data Science Bachelor of Science